An example of an interior component mounting structure is a mounting structure for mounting an elongated design component (an interior component) to an interior garnish trim (an interior assembly). The interior component mounting structure includes hooks that protrude from a back surface of the design component at predefined intervals and mounting holes formed in the interior garnish trim. The design component is mounted to the interior garnish trim with the hooks fitted in the mounting holes. Another example may include screws instead of the hooks.
Although such an interior component mounting structure is suitable for mounting an elongated interior component having a certain length, it is not suitable for mounting an elongated interior component having a significantly large length and a small width. As the length increases and the width decreases, the mounting of the elongated interior component with the interior component mounting structure becomes more difficult because the elongated interior components are subjected to heat. If thermal expansion occurs, a section of the elongated interior component between adjacent fixing points may warp resulting in improper mounting. Furthermore, the elongated interior component may not have a sufficient size of mounting area required for mounting the elongated interior component with screws. Even if the elongated interior component has the sufficient size of area, warp or deformation due to heat is still an issue. The larger the length of the elongated interior component, the larger the influence of heat, that is, a variation in length of the elongated interior component due to thermal expansion and contraction tends to increase.